Luminous 14:Discussing with light

Media façade as a communication tool

The media façade on our Outdoor Lighting Application Center(OLAC) is a novel way to communicate the range of technology that is on display.

The contemporary building at our OLAC is ideal an ideal canvas for a media façade.

Set in the centre of Lyon, France, it has an 8m-high tower with translucent glass facades, the highest point in the area. This is an ideal way of demonstrating the potential of working with LED lighting. Products can be integrated into small spaces, adjusting the color temperature to suit the material, dynamic color changes through the use of DMX and Ethernet protocol controls.

LED can also turn buildings into communicative interfaces. Images, videos, brand communication, artistic content with dynamic effects - the media façade is a new and attractive way to communicate with users of the space.

The window panels are made from a highly diffusing glass. We decided to play with the interaction between light and frosted windows and to place the LED pixels behind the glass panels.

During a night test, it determined the pixel pitch and the distance between the pixels and the windows. The aim was that the LED dots would have a softly diffused effect around them. A pitch of 10 cm between each pixel and a distance of 10 cm between the LEDs and the diffusing glass gave the best results.

The students created a website interface optimised for mobile phones and coded a custom software interface for a programmable LED lighting infrastructure. They used Processing, a programming language created to enable designers and artists to develop custom code. The students’ software “We wanted to use a display medium that blends with the architecture, rather than attaches to it,” said assistant professor Dietmar Offenhuber. The class was keen to create a design that faced out toward the heart of campus, revealing hidden knowledge and intriguing passersby.

The students created a website interface optimised for mobile phones and coded a custom software interface for a programmable LED lighting infrastructure. They used Processing, a programming language created to enable designers and artists to develop custom code. The students’ software “We wanted to use a display medium that blends with the architecture, rather than attaches to it,” said assistant professor Dietmar Offenhuber. The class was keen to create a design that faced out toward the heart of campus, revealing hidden knowledge and intriguing passersby.

In terms of lighting fixtures, iColorFlex LMX gen2 from Philips Color Kinetics was used, fixed to the customized grids. The pixels face the glass panels. The complete installation allowed us to display dynamic content which enriches the lighting scenario demonstrated today at OLAC.